


do you copy?

by helenblqckthorn



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, And angst, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sci-Fi AU, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, i forgot to tag the angst last night there’s some, it's just 12k of fluff folks i don't really know what else to say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 08:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15457800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helenblqckthorn/pseuds/helenblqckthorn
Summary: For his whole life, Alec has only known order, and living up to his father’s expectations. Be the best, the smartest, accomplish the most. It’s why he takes up a mission to space to find somewhere to colonise, because Earth is fading fast. But not far into the journey, an accidental conversation occurs over a radio with a boy named Magnus on the ground. And Magnus flips his whole perspective on life upside down.or; the space au no one asked for but i wrote anyway





	do you copy?

**Author's Note:**

> so this was meant to be a 3k oneshot but i fail to control myself as per usual so it turned out like this! i saw this beautiful art by @9naska6 and felt compelled to write something on it bc it was so inspiring and wonderful. so enjoy!!! 
> 
>  
> 
> _beta’d by the awesome @immortaltsc_

_“Magnus, do you copy?”_

  
_._  
  
_…_  
  
_“I’m all ears.”_  
  
***  
  
The air out in the fields that have been long abandoned is drier. Cleaner.   
  
It’s something that Magnus muses every time, as he steps on the straw-like grass. It makes a crunch every time pressure is placed upon it, and isn’t comfortable to sit on, to say the least. But it’s a small price to pay, to do what he does every time he ventures out here.   
  
He checks his watch. Six minutes to ten.   
  
Magnus picks his way over to the area of grass where satellites and a bunch of wires are hooked up to the power system in the field, avoiding the uneven sections of the ground. They’re all as they were when he last left them, which is a good sign. What he’s doing isn’t *technically* illegal, but it would be frowned upon and probably mean being banished from his job or something equally unpleasant.   
  
One of the dishes looks a little crooked, most likely due to the frequent dust storms. He kneels and fixes that, checks the others, then flicks a few switches to turn on the system that he’s built. The small screen that’s supposed to show the wavelength he’s on flashes a neon green, signalling that it was on and ready. Magnus turns a few disks on the small control unit, flicks a another few switches and the frequency shows up on the screen, flashing.   
  
He sits down in the space that he’d cleared for himself, and checks the time again. One minute. His goggles start to bother him, so he slips them off and lets them hang around his neck, and blinks at the change in light. The moons are high tonight, the largest full and white against a deep purple sky.   
  
A sudden high pitched whining sounds from the headphones connected to the control pad. He picks them up hurriedly, and places them over his ears.   
  
At exactly ten o’clock, all the small lights planted in the field across from where Magnus is sitting light up in sequence. A few softly come alive and glow, then the rest follow and soon there’s an aura of yellow light surrounding the field. They all whirr quietly, producing and processing the solar electricity that they’ve picked up from today.   
  
Magnus usually ignores this, having become accustomed to it, but it brings a sense of comfort to him, the familiar lights bringing a brightness to the evening, that will grow even more in a moment. His headphones start to pick static up, and it crackles and hisses in his ears for a few moments. Magnus shuts his eyes, having stared vacantly at them for too long, the lights are suddenly a little too bright against his retinas.   
  
He hears a faint sound, and can’t quite put his finger on what it is until a few moments later when the static starts to fade. It’s humming.   
  
And a tune he knows too; he finds himself tilting his head back in search of the tune, it’s on the tip of his tongue when the static completely fades and the other line becomes clear.   
  
Magnus finds his lips quirking in laughter. “Space Oddity?”  
  
“Hey, it’s a classic!” The person on the other line laughs and the sound of something heavy being put down can be heard.   
  
“An old one,” Magnus leans back, smiling at the sky. “I thought you were more of an—I don’t know, ACDC kind of guy.”

Alec snorts. “I don’t even know what that is.”

“Seriously?”

“You didn’t have my upbringing.”

“I guarantee it was better than mine. Also, I thought we were supposed to copy in. What if I’m not Magnus and you spill state secrets to a spy?”

“I know your voice enough that I could hear it in a crowd of hundreds of people.” Alec says matter-of-factly, and it makes Magnus’s heart skip a beat.

He found control over his voice. “You never know.”

Alec sighs, fondly exasperated. “Do you copy?”

“Yes Alec, I copy. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Magnus grins to himself.

“You’re impossible.”

Alec says it teasingly, and his automatic response is: “Yeah, but you love it.”

“I do.” His voice is suddenly softer. Magnus swallows hard, his face hot all of a sudden. He’s especially glad that Alec can’t see him in that moment, his throat dry and face flushed. Magnus clears his throat abruptly.

“What have you been up to today?” He asks, hoping the change in subject wasn’t too strange.

Alec groans and Magnus can vaguely hear chatter in the background. “My crew were a pain in the ass, as per usual.”

“Hey!” Someone yells, and Alec chuckles lowly. It does all kinds of things to Magnus that he’d be rather embarrassed to repeat.

“We checked out a new moon, but it was a total bust, so that’s great.” Magnus can hear the disappointment in his voice, and bitterness swells inside of him. It was so stupid and unfair. Alec had to be stuck up there, on a mission that he’d rather not do, for however long it took to find somewhere habitable. Earth was no longer in the market.

Magnus tries to find a comforting tone. “I’m sure you’re not far from finding somewhere.”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

There’s a silence, but it isn’t an uncomfortable one. They’re happy enough to sit in each other’s company—well, if you could call it that. Sitting alone with only the crackle of static and soft breathing on the other line in your ear was pleasant. Even more so because it was Alec in his ear.

“What about you?” Alec asks, breaking the silence.

Magnus stretches his arms up above him, making his joints crack. “The usual. Sold a few pieces of good metal today and made some money from that.”

It’s quite mundane, compared to what Alec’s doing. Exploring uncharted space, discovering new planets and stars, trying to find somewhere to migrate. The only thing Magnus explores is old, worn buildings and ships that had crashed on the surface of the earth.

But Alec never made any comparison of that. He treats Magnus’s work as if it is as important as his, which he also genuinely believes. It’s one of the things Magnus loves most about him.

Well… not love, likes. That’s a more—suitable word for it. Yeah.

“That sounds good,” Alec says encouragingly.

“I guess. How are your siblings doing?” Magnus was referring to a part of the crew, but also wanted to switch topics from one that makes him slightly uncomfortable.

“Alright. Jace is still whining about Clary in private, Izzy likes to tease him so he’s kind of frustrated. I can’t imagine what that level of pining feels like.” There’s laughter in his voice.

Magnus feels a little sweaty, though he can’t understand why. There’s a chilly breeze that wafts around him. “Hilarious.”

“It’s not funny!” Someone—presumably Jace—shouts in the background. Alec laughs at that.

Magnus suppresses a smile. “They’re still okay with me talking to you?”

“Yeah, they’re completely relaxed about it. Only Izzy really knows who you are though, the rest think you’re a friend from home,” Technically, he wasn’t lying. “Hopefully if we do meet they won’t scare you off.”

Magnus leans back further and looks up at the moons and the stars. He wonders how far up in space Alec is, and wonders when—or if, he may return.

He’s surprised at the amount of pain he feels at the thought of maybe never getting to meet Alec in person. Never being able to see his face, to know what he looks like. It feels like an icy shard against his heart. “If?”

There’s an audible sigh in the line, and Magnus feels some regret at prompting the question. “I don’t even know how long it’ll take us to find a suitable planet, let alone set up camp, test the surroundings and get back—”

“I understand, don’t worry,” Magnus cuts in gently, stopping Alec from getting overheated.

The comfortable silence returns, but not for very long.

“I wish things were different.”

“Me too,” Magnus exhales as he says it.

“It’s like—I don’t even _want_ to be here, but…”

“Your father,” Magnus finishes for him.

Alec sighs. “Yeah. There’s like a built in instinct of mine not to let him down, and going against it feels pretty shitty.”

“I know. After this trip you can hopefully let on that it’s not what you want to do and that instead.”

“Surveillance of planets we’ve already discovered,” Alec automatically says, and Magnus gives a half-exasperated, half amused shake of his head. “We’ve barely touched the surface of some of the ones close to Earth, just air acidity and all that. There could be some real discoveries waiting to be found, we just don’t have the time. We’re focusing all our resources on finding new exclusive things when we could be helping the hundred of people in poverty with a new discovery.”

Magnus wholeheartedly agrees with this, and was pleased to find out Alec shares most of the same opinions as him on subjects like this.

“I can help build your ships and camps,” Magnus grins, folding his arms behind his head. “Alec and Magnus’s Repair and Exploration garage.”

“That’s a mouthful.”

“Okay smart-alec, do you have a better name?”

“Ha ha ha,” Alec says sarcastically, but Magnus can detect a smile in his voice.

A sudden beep brings him out of the haze of comfort and happiness, and he looks down at the monitor. It reads: 2 MINS TO POWER OFF.

“Was that the alarm?” His voice holds disappointment.

Magnus sighs. “Unfortunately.”

There’s about forty minutes every night where the lights in the field blink into life and the field itself is powered. But that means they only have that amount of time to talk each night. Magnus has already looked into extending the period of time the power is on, but there’s no way of doing it without notifying the power station, which reports directly to North Star, and that’s a whole kettle of fish he doesn’t want to get into.

“Same time tomorrow?” Alec asks.

“You don’t even need to ask,” Magnus smiles as he says this, and then the power cuts off and all the magic around him fades and dies.

The field is just a field now. There aren’t any lights, and the only thing that keeps him from tripping over a cord in the darkness is the moonlight that his face bathes in.

The headphones aren’t things that connect him to Alec now, they’re just regular, slightly beaten up North Star headphones that Magnus had nicked once, when turning in scrap metal.

He exhales bitterly, snaps his goggles back on, unplugs the headphones, and strides out of his small area, back into the thin woods that protect this land. Under the wire fence, where a gap has been cut by other people, and then back into the smoggy, dusty city.

***

Alec smiles into space for a moment before Isabelle walks into his room. “How’s your boyfriend?”

“He’s _not_ —” He grabs a cushion that’s floating around due to the zero gravity, and throws it at her. It bounces off her face lightly and drifts away with the momentum, and she doesn’t look at all fazed.

“You weren’t even this smitten with that other boy back at the Academy, he has to be pretty special to earn this much angst.” Izzy’s smirking now.

 _He is_ , Alec half wants to say, but restrains himself and resigns to rolling his eyes at his sister. She shrugs, walks over to where a bunch of pita chips are floating, grabs one, and heads for the door.

“Your loss, not mine,” Izzy calls behind her shoulder as she exits.

He’s tempted to shout something after her, but he comes up with a loss for words. What can he say? Yeah, this guy is really special and it’s the one highlight of my day when I get to talk to him? My one wish is to be able to meet him and see his face? I’d love to take a step further and maybe—

Alec’s face feels like it’s on fire as the last thought runs through his head, and shakes his head vigorously.

He turns and gazes out of the window to clear his mind. Earth isn’t even visible. Every mile they travel further away from home, the more weight is put onto Alec’s shoulders. As head of the mission, it was on him to find anything helpful at all out in uncharted space. So far, they haven’t found anything spectacular or worth taking note of.

And every mile away from Earth, the more life it seems to take from him, knowing it could be years and he would still never see Magnus’s face.

***

“Good evening, ground control to Major Alec?”

.

…

“Oh my god, I sang that _once_.”

***

Alec can remember clear as day the first time he had heard Magnus’s voice.

He had been in his room, the artificial plants next to him as he sat in his chair, fiddling with his communications monitor. The headphones had been in the drawer next to them, and he had looked at them curiously before placing them on. The monitor was the one thing he hadn’t figured out how to work yet.

For about fifteen minutes, he’d fiddled with the knobs, staring vacantly out of his huge window. The stars were shining bright that night, and he’d had an odd feeling of deja vu, remembering how, as a child, he used to stare up and out the window on the roof of his room, which had given him a perfect view of the galaxies and moons.

There had then been a sudden, high pitched whining that had sounded from the monitor, as if someone were trying to tune in. He had jumped a bit at the noise, but stayed perfectly still, staring at the monitor as the whining quieted and the crackle of static filled the line.

“Hello?” He had said, not expecting an answer at all.

“Hey,” A voice on the line had said.

Alec had jumped from shock in his seat again. “Jesus!”

“What, not expecting to hear someone?”

The voice had been teasing. Alec hadn’t been very sure what to do.

“Not… exactly. What-who are you?”

“Magnus,” he had said, as if they weren’t two complete strangers. “How did you receive this frequency?”

Alec had narrowed his eyes at the monitor as though the recipient—Magnus—could see his expression. “I could ask you the same thing. This is a high security line and I have half a mind to report you.”

“What, report someone when you don’t know where they’re based or what their full name is? Sounds like a promising threat.” His tone had been mocking.

He’d stayed silent at that, and had flared up in annoyance when Magnus had snickered. “All right, I’ll tell what I’m doing to talk to you. I’m currently in a field that is powered every night to process solar energy for a city. I happened upon a bunch of satellites and thought I could contact someone to get me out of here.”

“Why would you want to leave?” Alec had asked.

“Have you *seen* Earth lately?”

*Not really*, Alec had wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut. “Mm.”

“I want to get away. Anywhere’s better than here.” There had been a pause, then the sound of shuffling. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I don’t really have anyone else to talk to.”

“I get that.” Although his family were aboard, there were still a lot of things Alec kept to himself.

“So what about you, mystery man? What’s your name?” Magnus had questioned.

“Alec,” he said. “And don’t expect me to tell you where I live because that’s classified.”

There was a brief pause, before Magnus had started laughing so hard it sounded as if he couldn’t breathe. “Classified?” he giggled.

“It’s not funny!” Alec had protested, but found his lips twitching into a smile in spite of himself. “It’s actually a secret, I’m not supposed to say.”

“Okay Mr. Classified, whatever.”

Another pause, but Alec was grinning. He had been itching to ask him something since he’d said that it was his own doing—tapping into this line. “How on earth did you find the skill set to tap into North Star tech?”

“ _North Star_ , huh?” Magnus had said, sounding mildly intrigued. Alec had mentally kicked himself for his slip up. “Well, I’m just generally amazing at computers and all that shit. I collect scrap metal for a living. You pick things up.”

“That’s pretty impressive, if I’m being honest.” Alec had said, surprised.

“Haven’t been very honest so far though. You work for the space program?” Magnus had said, and Alec could almost hear him raising his eyebrows.

But before he had begun to speak, the line had cut off. Alec had felt a pang of sadness that he’d cut off mid-conversation, and had spent the rest of the night staring vacantly at the monitor below him, his headphones muffling the perfect stillness of the infinite night.

He’d dreamt of Magnus’s voice.

***

“Okay, okay. There has got to be some outfit that we can agree on.”

“I literally only own sweaters and jeans.”

“Not even a jacket? Of any kind?”

“Nope.”

“I’m so disappointed right now. I hope you can hear how disappointed I am.”

“They’re not even bad sweaters! They’re nice sweaters! Relax!”

“I can’t. Now I’m just picturing you with ugly sweaters on.”

***

The second time Magnus had contacted him, it was the night after the first. Alec had been poring over the day’s notes, having stopped by a local planet in the day, when he’d heard the high pitched whining and had frozen, halfway through writing the classification of rock that was on the dusty green planet.

He’d spun in his desk chair and scooted hastily over to the monitor, and had placed the headphones on.

“We meet again,” Magnus had said, in a mock-spooky voice, his voice crackling with static.

Alec had leant back in his desk chair, shaking his head amusedly. “I can’t believe you hung up on me.”

“Right when we we’re getting to know each other, I know! This place I’m in is only powered for so long though, I’m timing it tonight. You still want to talk, right?” Magnus’s voice had taken on a slight nervousness that Alec had found oddly endearing.

“How could I not, after you called me Mr. Classified?” Alec had said, dryly. Magnus had laughed, and it was a very pleasant sound.

“So… Space program?” Magnus had prompted after a moments silence.

Alec had sighed. “It’s a long, and pretty boring story.”

“Good thing I have all night free. Or, at least until I get cut off.”

***

When Alec was a child, his father had taken him out to the North Star observatory at night. They had been alone, and the utter silence of the place had felt comforting to Alec.

“See that?” Robert Lightwood had said, pointing to the North Star. “That’s the first star I learnt about when I was a boy. It was the spark that lit my desire to go beyond the stars. To found the company.”

As a child, he hadn’t really taken in any of this, but as he looks out onto the millions of stars now, he found a sort of understanding with his father’s words. Seeing that many places to explore and discover makes him itch with desire to do so. His father, on the other hand, is more concerned with finding places and inhabiting them.

“When you grow up, Alec, I want you to carry my dream on after me,” he had said, looking into Alec’s eyes with such seriousness that even at his age, Alec understood. He looked back up into the sky with the same curiosity, but perhaps a little more longing than before.

It stays with him as he grows older, so much so that his life is now centered around space. It’s the sun the rest of his life orbits around. His room is full of posters, news articles, model solar systems and the like, he had paid rapt attention to the subjects needed to become an astronaut, and finally, after years of hoping and achieving and aspiring, he enters the North Star program with flying colours.

Some others sneer at his dedication and success, passing it off as favouritism as his father is the founder. But in fact it’s quite the opposite; his father is tougher on him than any other student, tests him harshly, trains him to be the best. He is the best, said without vanity, and it’s his father’s determination and hope that keeps him going.

But in the back of his mind, there are always whispering doubts. Sometimes he feels it would be better if he lived without his father, without the constant pressure of having to achieve more. What would it be like to live by his own rules, he often wonders. But he pushes those to the back of his mind, never to surface.

In his solar system of life though, there’s a comet approaching his well balanced life.

The comet is Magnus, and he could tip the scales of Alec’s life as easy as snapping his fingers.

The problem is, Alec doesn’t see this as a bad thing. He welcomes it.

***

“I need to sign off, something’s just come up on a screen near me!”

“Okey-dokey, over and out.”

“Over and out is actually the incorrect term, it’s supposed to be just ‘Out’ because how could you switch to the other person by saying ‘Over’, then completely cut them off? It makes no sense.”

“Oh my god, you’re such a nerd.”

“Sorry.”

“No! No—don’t be sorry. It’s a good thing. I’m interested, it’s cool that you know that.”

“People don’t usually say that.”

“I’m not your regular person. Tell me more.”

***

“Wow,” Magnus says, after hearing about Alec’s life. “That sounds like the opposite of mine right now.”

He feels slightly embarrassed. What Magnus does is go out into the deserts and find metal and assorted objects that hold worth which could be used for other machines, and is paid a measly sum for it. He hollowed out an old small ship to make as his home, and is content with what he has.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t *want* more though.

Magnus tells Alec this. He feels unsure as to why he’s telling this faceless space boy about his struggles, but there’s something very reassuring about Alec. Solid. It makes him want to share more.

“All my friends are halfway across the world,” Magnus tells him. “We were separated during The Fall.”

Ah yes, The Fall. The run of disastrous events which included most of the first world’s economies crashing. Fun times.

“That sounds lonely,” Alec sounds empathetic.

“It is. You’re the first person I’ve told all this to.”

“Same goes for me. Does it feel good? To get it off your chest?”

“Yes,” Magnus says. “It does.”

***

“Okay, okay, Magnus, I’ve got one for you. What do you call a man with no legs, no arms, in the middle of the sea?”

“…”

“Bob.”

“…That is, without a doubt, the worst joke anyone has ever told me.”

“It’s not that bad—”

“It’s _so_ bad.”

“You’re laughing though! You laughed at it!”

“I’m not!”

“You are, and it’s a really nice laugh.”

“…Ah, that was a weird thing to say, wasn’t it.”

“No. I like your laugh too.”

***  
  
“Don’t you find this strange?” He asks Magnus the fourth or fifth time they talk. It’s become an accidental habit, he finds himself in his room at the monitor five minutes to ten these nights now. And he doesn’t do anything to stop this break of order and routine like he usually does.

(Don’t look that way at those boys Alec.)

(Have you asked Aline to be your girlfriend yet?)

(You should speak more and lighten up.)

(He forces himself to do all those things.)

.

(Aline doesn’t appreciate it, thankfully.)

Which is worrying, says the voice that sounds like his father’s in the back of his mind. Alec shut the voice down, thinking of the low, melodic sound of Magnus’s.

“Find what strange?” Magnus asks, but he sounds like he already knows what Alec is about to say.

“That we’re already so familiar with each other. We’re perfect strangers yet—I’m telling you things I’ve never told anyone. Do you think it’s just because we can’t see each other, that we can just pretend we’re talking to anyone?” All of this bursts out in a desperate rush—desperate because Alec doesn’t wish to believe that to be true.

His bluntness is one of his worst features, people tell him. Magnus has already said that he doesn’t mind, he prefers this over polite dishonesty.

“Maybe,” Magnus ponders, after a pause. “I like to think that it’s because of who we are. There’s something about you that I haven’t found in anyone else. It’s… reassuring.”

Alec is quiet for a moment. “I think so too.” Magnus feels just as real and solid as anyone on board the ship, yet he hasn’t seen his face.

It’s odd, to say the least.

“Speaking of things you’ve never told anyone, do you have any embarrassing stories about your childhood?”

“You have _no_ idea.”

***

He tells Magnus he’s gay after maybe their tenth conversation. It’s difficult for him—coming out always has been. It makes him uncomfortable, except it only started being like that after he’d told his father.

“That’s cool. I’m bi.”

Magnus makes it sound so effortless, so easy. It makes him wonder what his life could be like if he stopped trying to conceal, and started standing out.

There’s also an undertone to Magnus’s voice—he can’t figure out what it is.

He only knows that his stomach swoops a bit when Magnus confirms he likes boys.

***

They’re about two months in to talking with each other when Magnus asks about the elephant in the room.

“Hey Alec?” He questions, voice unsure.

There’s a slight pause. “Yeah?”

“Do you think—do you think we could ever um… could ever meet? Face to face? I mean, where exactly do you live?”

It’s something he’s been wanting to ask for a while now, though it’s felt too serious for their casual conversations.

There’s a hiss of static over the line as Alec lets out a long breath. Oh boy. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

“It’s complicated.”

“As in… complicated complicated? Or complicated as in—” Magnus rambles, but is cut off by Alec.

“Look up at the sky.” Magnus does what he’s told. “See anything?”

The dark shades of the sky blend into each other; dark purple and black and grey. The stars are a splash of light against the dark canvas, as if they are pinpricks on a dark sheet of paper held against a light. The moons are right above him, and their light swashes him.

“Not anything out of the ordinary.” Magnus says confusedly. “Why?”

“Imagine way up beyond the stars. Somewhere so high and dark and light at the same time you could never see it from earth, somewhere you’ve never been before. Where no human has gone before.” There was a long pause then, “That’s where I am now.”

Magnus’s stomach suddenly trapdoors into an abyss.

Alec explains his mission. To explore uncharted space and find a habitual colony for Earth to migrate to. Discovering places even Galileo had never dreamed of.

Not knowing when you were going to make it back or not.

“And your parents were okay with this?” Magnus is slightly horrified.

“We have the latest tech. There’s almost unlimited fuel as we charge with solar energy, and it’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Alec says, sounding tired. “And there’s no one better than us at the academy.”

The gaping silence makes Magnus nauseous. “You don’t know when you’ll come back. _If_ you’ll come back.”

“No.” Alec’s voice is soft.

Magnus swallows the hope that has been crushed and grinded so jaggedly it hurts to gulp down, and puts on a shaky smile. “I guess I’ll just have to fill that time then.”

He’s not sure whether the tiny sigh of relief down the line is his imagination or not.

***

A year flies by.

They become as thick as thieves. It’s the highlight to Magnus’s day now, as soon as he’s lugged his metal bits to The Collectors, he races home, chugs down whatever crappy meal he’s bought that day, and heads out to the field.

He’s often early, but he doesn’t care. Watching the brilliant sunset from out here is breath-taking, the starch blue from the day fades into a pale yellow, which in turn goes to a gold that simmers along the horizon and drips off of Magnus’s brown skin like liquid sunlight, then that turns to a pink so bright it reminds him of the cotton candy he vaguely recalls having as a child in fun fairs long ago. He can almost taste the burnt, fluffy sugar on his tongue as he watches the pink turn to a purple, which becomes faded and grey as the sun brings the colour down with it, and the sky spills a blue ink bottle across itself and the moons rise up.

Magnus loves the night. He welcomes it.

Then his monitor will go green and his stomach lets a tiny burst of butterflies go, and the sound of Alec’s voice takes over his thoughts.

They’re what Magnus could call best friends—he’s never wished and longed to talk to someone all day as he has with Alec. The minutes he exchanges like precious money at night is more than he could wish for; it’s a fortune.

The biggest catch, as there always is in Magnus’s life, is that he can only spend forty minutes talking to this wonderful, unique, amazing person. And that he’ll probably never see his face.

When he has spoken to Alec recently, there’s been something strange happening. He’ll catch himself smiling like an idiot at nothing in particular, just that Alec’s present, and then he’ll start imagining what Alec looks like. What his eyes would look like up close. What his hair would feel like. How his lips would—

He always has to shake himself out of it, roughly.

***

(before)

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem with our situation really, unless you fall in love with me.”

“Alright then, I won’t fall in love with you. Deal?”

Alec laughs, because he knows it’s not a possibility. “Deal.”

***

Something weird has been happening every time Alec has spoken to Magnus recently.

His heart always feels like it’s bursting with happiness whenever he hears the sounds of his voice, he finds himself dreaming about Magnus far too often, and his breath always catches when Magnus does something like tell one of his dumb jokes, or laugh, or chuckle, or—

He’s worried that he might have a serious problem, and vows to resolve it

***

“If you could have one thing in the world right now, up there in space, what would it be?”

“You.”

(Alec’s face turns so red so fast it’s what scientists back home would consider a medical miracle.)

***

“Hey Magnus,” a clear voice filters over Magnus’s phone line.

He’s sitting in his house for a change, with his lopsided bed and stained stove. The one roomed house—if you could call it that—is a little musty and there’s a layer of dust Magnus can never quite clean off the wooden table, but it’s the only home he knows.

The only home he’s *fond* of, at least, remembering the foster homes he’s been filtered through with a shudder.

“Cat! It’s so great to hear your voice.”

“I was a little surprised, I thought international calls were a fortune to pay.” Catarina’s voice is slightly bemused.

Magnus shuffles a bit in his seat, and readjusts the phone so he’s only holding it by pressing it between his head and shoulder, giving him space to fiddle with his hands, which calms him a little. “Well, yeah, but I was hoping for some more—personal, let’s say, advice on a matter.”

“I’m listening. Though if it’s a piercing somewhere dumb I’m hanging up.”

“It’s not!” Magnus exclaims. “That was one time.”

“You wanted to ask me something?”

“Right, right.” Magnus reaches back and scrubs the back of his head. “It’s kind of complicated. See, I’ve been talking to this guy—it doesn’t matter how—for about a year, and he’s really sweet and nice and funny and I think I may like him a little more than what’s required for friendship,” he says that part really quickly, since this is the first time he’s really admitted it to himself, “And I think he might feel the same.”

“But there’s a catch,” Catarina fills in for him, her voice empathetic.

“There’s always a catch,” Magnus sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “He’s up millions of miles away in a spaceship on some mission and doesn’t know whether he’ll make it back in my lifetime or not.”

Cat lets out a whistle. “That’s some catch.”

“It is.” Magnus leans back in his seat. “I don’t know what to do.”

A pause passes between them. Then:

“Tell him anyway.”

“What?”

“Tell him anyway,” Catarina says calmly. “Magnus, life is too short. You’ve got to at least tell the guy. It might give him some motivation or something to get back here quicker.”

“I don’t know if he feels the same though. I’m just guessing; what if I ruin our friendship?”

“Magnus.” Catarina sounds amused. “You’re able to charm the pants off of anybody. If this guy has you this hooked, he’s bound to feel something in return.”

***

“You’ve never tried sushi?!”

“Nope.”

“Aw man, you are missing out on so much. It’s so amazing, the rice and the fish and the seaweed—”

“The seaweed isn’t sounding very appealing.”

“You have got to try it. If you ever come back I’m taking you to get sushi with me.”

“Alright, alright!”

***

“Can you pass me that wrench there, Alec?”

He passes Isabelle the wrench.

She’s fixing the breakfast bar. This morning Jace accidentally spilt milk into the plug sockets (Alec does not know how and doesn’t care enough to find out) and the Cheerios sprayed rapid fire into Maia’s face. It was quite a scene to witness, Maia clawing Cheerios out of her eyes whilst chasing a screaming Jace around the room.

He’s humming absently to himself, and doesn’t realise until Isabelle points it out.

“What’s with the humming? You’ve never done that before.”

Alec frowns consideringly. “Haven’t I?”

“Alec, you’ve never hummed a song like that in your life,” Isabelle says, coming out from under the bar and looking at him strangely.

“What?” He asks, nervous under her scrutinous gaze.

Isabelle rests her hands beside her and leans back. “Who’s the guy?”

He fumbles with the tools he’s holding and sputters. “Excuse me?”

“Who’s the guy you’re crushing on? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, and I’ve heard you talking to someone at night.” Isabelle’s stare is intimidating. “Who is he?”

“Just someone,” Alec mumbles, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably with his free hand.

Isabelle scoffs. “Just someone, my ass. Your entire mood aboard here has changed, gone is the grumpy man who you can only occasionally coax a smile out of, and hello Mr. Smiles.”

And it dawns on Alec. Izzy is completely right. Magnus has not just flipped his life upside down, he’s flipped how happy Alec feels. Whenever he has a bad day, he pushes on through instead of closing up like he would before meeting him, and without Alec realising, Magnus has made him more cheerful. Positive on the outlook of things, and along with the sensations he’s felt recently when speaking with Magnus…

“Shit,” Alec says aloud, dropping the tools onto the tiled floor. “I’m in love with him.”

“Damn right,” Izzy says under her breath, smiling as she goes back under the bar with her screwdriver.

***

“Hey,” Alec greets Magnus, suddenly nervous.

“Hi,” Magnus responds, and Alec can detect a hint of something in his voice—he’s not sure what though. But it’s enough to try and keep the conversation flowing towards something.

“How was your day?”

“Same old, same old. Picked up a nice piece of engine today, so I’ll be eating rich tomorrow,” Magnus laughs a little to himself.

Alec swallows, throat suddenly dry. That laugh. God. Help.

“That sounds nice,” he says lightly, playing with the earpiece on his headphones. “Mine was boring. Unless you count seeing Jace run around the ship, screaming because Maia’s been sprayed with Cheerios.”

“I have _got_ to hear this story.”

By the time Alec’s finished, Magnus is laughing so hard he’s hiccuping, making Alec giggle alongside him. His laughter stutters slowly to a stop, still occasionally coughing and chortling over the story.

It’s the most wonderful noise Alec’s heard in a long time.

“Oh man, I would actually pay to see that,” Magnus says, his voice still thick with laughter.

Alec completely shocks himself with what comes out of his mouth after that.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

There’s a silence so sudden it makes his heart jolt to a horrible stop, and he can hear Magnus catch his breath once, over the line.

 _Pleasedon’tfreakoutpleasedon’tfreakout_ , Alec pleads silently as that horrible sinking jolting feeling grows in his chest. Please.

“Me too.”

Those two soft words make him tighten his grip on his chair arms, but the rest of his body is lifted up away, he could be a bird in flight, or a comet hurtling in no direction, and all he knows is those two words.

“Really?” he asks, bursting at the seams with sunshine.

Magnus’s reply is said with a smile, and his tone is intimate. “Really.”

***

“It’s a bit of a tragedy really, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Us.”

“I like to think of it as a beginning.”

***

Alec is unusually quiet today.

It’s been a couple months since their confessions to one another, and if Magnus is being honest, not much has changed. They just say the thoughts they have about one another more freely now, and sign off with “love you”. It makes Magnus _ridiculously_ happy.

But today he’s distracted and silent.

“What’s wrong?” Magnus asks him, concerned.

Alec sighs. Magnus is immediately uneasy.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you this, but I couldn’t stand it otherwise,” Alec’s tone is heavy. “We’re visiting a planet tomorrow where time passes differently, because of it’s gravity and proximity to a black hole.”

Silence.

“How long.” He dreads the answer, a sick feeling in his throat.

“Every hour on the planet is a year.”

There’s a ringing in Magnus’s ears. “H- how long are you going to be on it?”

“I’m trying to convince everyone that an hour is enough. I’m not sure though,” Alec sounds exhausted, tired. “I know this is a lot worse for you than me, and I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Magnus says, already thinking of and dreading the long days and nights stretching ahead of him until he can hear Alec’s voice again.

“No,” Alec says sadly. “It’s not.”

***

“Is everyone ready?” Izzy yells over the roar of the engine, and Alec snaps his helmet on with a hiss from the depressurizer, looking down at the lush green hills rolling beneath him.

“No,” he whispers under his breath, before descending into a land where every second counts more than a lifetime to him. To Magnus.

***

The next year passes in a grey blur for Magnus. Wake up, eat, work, sleep. The cycle repeats over and over. The days turn into weeks, which fade into months.

Is this what his life was like before Alec? No wonder he’d been so eager to get out and move on.

Even though the monitor remains silent, he treks out to the field every night, looking up into the stars, wondering how far away he is. How many minutes is he into his expedition? He can’t wrap his head around it. It seems so completely bizarre that they’re running on different frequencies of time, that every minute for Alec is roughly six days for Magnus.

The wait stretches before him, as endless as the stars in the sky, but far, far dimmer.

Finally exactly a year passes. Any day now, he thinks, pulling on his sweater strings in the dusk. Any day.

He waits.

And waits.

It’s another half year before the monitor crackles to life again.

***

“Hurry!” Lily screams, and Alec chances a split second glance back at her. Her face is devoid of colour, her hair a mess, and there’s a tidal wave behind her.

Yeah, a literal tidal wave.

You think you’ve seen it all once you’re up in space, with the black holes and wormholes and supernovas. But no, what once seemed to be a peaceful, green planet they could have possibly inhabited *has* to have a tsunami scheuduele which cycles and roars suddenly to life every hour.

It’s a good thing he’s so attentive, as the rest of the crew had their heads stuck in the wildlife, studying and surveying. Another minute with the stirrings of the ocean bordering the bright land gone unnoticed and they could have already been dead.

“Almost there!” Izzy calls over her shoulder as she sprints towards the hovercraft they brought down from the ship. Alec makes that one last push, ignoring the burning of his muscles in his legs, and jumps in to the already opened craft.

He turns around and makes a quick headcount—Jace, Isabelle, Maia, Simon, and Clary are all aboard and short of breath. But where’s—

“Lily!” Maia screams, and Alec whips his head around so fast his neck cracks.

She’s caught her suit on a big thorned branch protruding from the ground, and is frantically pulling at it, but to no avail. Alec can see her face from here, pale and terrified, as the tidal wave grows higher and nearer.

He makes a split second decision, and runs.

His name is being screamed behind him, but Alec can’t hear that, he can only hear the sloshing of water and the wind against his ears. He reaches Lily, and they don’t say anything to each other, just pull at her suit desperately. The tidal wave is almost ten meters away from them when it rips free and they almost fall over with the momentum.

They sprint back to the ship, faster than Alec’s ever run in his life, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He and Lily catapult themselves forward into the ship, and the door slams shut behind them.

Just seconds later, the water hits their ship and whoever is piloting uses that push to lift off and fly away in a matter of seconds. He tries to get his breath back.

“Thanks,” Lily pants, lying on her back on the floor of the ship.

Alec is doing the same. “No problem.”

“We survived!” He hears someone yell joyfully, behind him, and Simon and Clary appear to be performing the foxtrot. He closes his eyes and chuckles to himself, when a face flashes to his mind and he sits upright so fast black spots dance before his eyes. He checks his watch with a trembling hand, fearing what he’ll see.

“We’ve been gone for an hour and a half,” he says aloud, with no tone to his voice. Everyone stops their celebrations at once and sobers up. “We’ve been gone for a year and a half.”

He thinks of the days Magnus has had with no one to be with, and puts his head in his hands.

***

“I’m so sorry,” is the first thing he says when Magnus picks up the wavelength.

“Well hello to you too,” Magnus says, sounding amused.

It’s incredibly strange—Alec only talked to him yesterday in his time, but *so* much more time has passed for Magnus. His voice sounds deeper and, Alec’s a little frightened to think, a tad more lifeless.

He doesn’t know what to say. A stupid mistake of a planet caused Magnus loneliness, something Alec detests the most.

“I love you,” he blurts out, then shakes his head at himself. He’s such a mess.

“I love you too,” Magnus says, but sounds confused. “Alec, why are you all over the place? What happened?”

“My job happened,” Alec is sure he sounds bitter. “One mistake trip cost you a year and a half of perfect misery, I can’t believe I decided to do that in the first place. What was I thinking?”

“Darling, you were thinking about your mission. The reason you’re up there.” He’s not sure if Magnus’s tone is mild or hard. “And it wasn’t that bad, this past year. I understand what your job is, and I know it might cost us some time. But it doesn’t matter, in the end. I know it’ll all be worth it when you’re done, and I don’t care if that’s tomorrow or in fifty years. I only know that it’s you, and I’m willing to do anything, any more than I would for any other person, just to meet you once.”

There’s a burning sensation in Alec’s eyes which he wills away. “I don’t know what to do,” he says, his voice thick.

“That’s easy, Alexander. Hope.”

***

“Do you think we’re all just floating specks of dust waiting for our minor destiny to happen?”

“Christ, I want to kiss you so badly.”

***

“Do you have WiFi down in your home?”

“Why, want to send me some nudes?”

“W— _what_ , no—”

“You’re so easy to tease.”

“I hope you know my face is on fire right now.”

***

“What colour are your eyes, by the way? I don’t think I’ve ever asked.”

“Blue. What about yours?”

“Mine are a weird greenish gold, I think of them as similar to a cat’s eye colour.”

“Only you would describe a weird eye colours ‘as similar to a cat’s’.

***

“I think we’ve found it Alec,” Izzy says, her eyes shining. The screen behind her displays a planet near to them, with the right temperature, air acidity, atmosphere and resources to allow people to live happily in it. It checks all the right boxes, and they’re checking it out tomorrow.

They’ve never been this confident before, and one half of Alec is overjoyed, but the other is worried.

If this checks out, it means heading back home. Seeing his parents. Friends, Family. And most important, Magnus.

He’d thought of finding somewhere as such a far away opportunity, that his estimate had been at least twenty years. It had been so far out of his mind, he didn’t have to be concerned about anything.

The thought of meeting Magnus makes him anxious. What if he doesn’t like Alec as soon as he sees him? What if he’s not what he expected? What if he thinks it would never work out in real life?

These thoughts stay with him as he tosses and turns all night. Weighing everything up, he decides to procrastinate telling Magnus that they may have found *the* planet. He feels awful about it, stringing him along, but at the same time, feels a quick sense of relief that no, he won’t have to deal with this right now. It’s just easier to not tell him.

That’s been the way his life has worked since he had been little; if it works out easier and less messy for you one way, do it that way.

***

He doesn’t tell Magnus after they visit the planet the next day and everyone cries from multiple emotions because they’ve finally found somewhere the people of Earth can live. It’s just easier that way.

He doesn’t tell him that they’re on their way back. He’s left it too late now, he can feel the sinking in his gut.

Alec comes to the conclusion it’s best to seek Magnus out and surprise him once he’s back on Earth. He ignores the weight on his heart.

***

“Magnus, do you copy?” Alec asks him through the crackle of static and small monitor.

Magnus stretches out, content as he closes his eyes. “I’m all ears.”

They talk about small things for a while, how the mission is going, how Magnus’s day was, until Alec questions something that catches his attention a little.

“Hey, I’ve never asked—but where’s the field you’re in? What area, can you describe it?”

Magnus is slightly taken aback, but shrugs to himself. “It’s about an hours walk from the North Star headquarters, you just take the back road behind the fountain in the towns centre and follow it until you see a clearing with a bunch of barely visible lightbulbs in the ground. Why?”

“No reason,” Alec says innocently, but it sounds suspicious. “Hey, babe, would you mind telling me the best way to knock a man out? I need to do it to Jace right now, he’s wailing like a lunatic over something Clary said..”

He feels a little burst of fondness and butterflies at the ‘babe’, and laughs at Alec’s troubles with his step-brother and advises to try the Karate Kid maneuver to take him down. He gasps in horror when he learns that Alec hasn’t seen the old film.

It’s just another relaxed day, but Magnus should’ve seen the calm before the storm.

***

“Careful with the landing.”

“I’ve _got it_ Alec.”

“I know, but once we hit the atmosphere—”

“I can do this, now shut up.”

“It’s getting a little hot in here!”

“And steady… steady…”

…

.

***

Magnus taps his foot impatiently, in line to turn in the metal he’s picked up from today. The man behind him coughs, due to the layers of dust all around. Magnus shifts the bandana around his face out of habit, and wipes the front of his goggles clean.

The dust is everywhere, resting in places like people’s beds and inside their lungs. It’s also why there have been so many deaths lately, and why the council around town have put signs up warning people that if they forget to cover their mouths around the town, it could have potentially dangerous effects. These signs, of course, have been ruined with the brown dust settling on them.

His bag feels heavy in his hand, and Magnus rests it on the ground for a moment. After this, he’s free to go home for the rest of the day, until he goes out to the field. Magnus feels himself perk up a little at the thought of that, and it’s what makes him stand taller.

All of a sudden, muttering breaks out in the line behind him. He looks to where most people are pointing, and sees two bulky men fitted out in clean, sharp black gear with a symbol of a star on their upper arm. North Star guards. What are they doing out here?

And that’s when Magnus realises they’re headed straight towards him.

His mind flits between two extremes: why are they here? And should he make a break for it?

He grips his bag tighter, but it’s too late. They’re five feet away from him and intimidating as hell. Magnus is a tall man, luckily, so he reaches their height, but the blank expressions they hold unnerve him.

“Magnus Bane,” Thug #1 says to him. “You need to come with us.”

“And why is that?” Magnus snaps before he can stop himself. The effect is kind of ruined by the handkerchief on his face muffling his words.

“You need to come with us,” The other one repeats.

It’s getting way too creepy for him, so he drops his bag of scraps—wincing, because that’s a day’s portion of food wasted—and bolts.

Or at least, tries to. Thug #2 grabs the back of his jacket, and no matter how much Magnus writhes around, it does no good. His grip is like iron.

“Let go of me!” He yells, struggling. He can feel handcuffs being snapped onto him, and a thrill of fear shoots through him. What could he possibly have done to be arrested by guards of the North Star, of all corporations?

Then it hits him. And he feels sick at the thought.

The only thing that’s on his mind as he’s pushed into a car that’s more luxurious than anything he’s ever seen is that he hopes god or anyone who’s up there can hear him, because he sure as hell doesn’t want Alec tangled up in this mess.

***

“So you did it? You found the planet?”

“Yes, and we’re already preparing to tell the general public.”

“That’s so awesome!”

“It’s mostly thanks to Alec, really. He recalibrated the system that searches and finds suitable places of habitation, and the place we’re headed to didn’t show up on it before.”

“Your father will certainly be proud, Alexander.”

***

Magnus misses the car as soon as he steps outside into the raging heat once more.

It had had everything from cup holders to blacked out windows, things which Magnus has only heard about from the older generations. The leather was soft and cool on his hot body—no pun intended—and it had been an almost pleasant ride, with the exception of the two guards sitting opposite him, and the handcuffs cutting into his skin behind him.

He’d made sure to get as much dust possible on his seat.

Having only heard about North Star headquarters, Magnus drinks in the sight before him. All the buildings are a blinding, shiny white, and the logo is on the tallest building, to the right of him. There’s a lawn that is clearly painstakingly taken care of, as the level of green and lushness is almost unmaintainable in this climate. There’s also a sleek marble path leading up to the entrance, and Magnus would’ve almost enjoyed it if he were not here for kind of committing a crime and that such luxury is spent here whilst half his city is starving.

The thugs behind him give him a push forward, which makes him clench his fists tight in anger, but he proceeds up the marble path. An old, old song pops into his head as he walks, but he assumes ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road’ isn’t an appropriate song to hum in a place like this.

Glass doors before him hiss as they slide open automatically, and he’s stopped by security before a door with a keypad and extra security measures, no doubt. Thug #1 grunts something about “the head” and “wanting to see”, and Magnus’s stomach drops even further. It sounds like they’re going to see someone important.

The guards at the door let them pass with a few taps here and there in the door area, and Magnus can now see what the darkened doors didn’t let him before.

The ceiling is so tall he has to crane his head to look all the way up, and it’s the same sleek interior as the outside. There’s huge silver planets and stars hanging from the roof, and his lips quirk in bitter amusement. How funny that he might have been able to see Alec if he hadn’t been up in space right now.

There are students milling about everywhere, in their North Star sweaters—blue, with two white arrows on each of their arms—and black jeans. Magnus only just notices that there’s air conditioning, actual air conditioning in here. He’s half envious and disgusted, half in awe of the students here. They’re either rich and privileged, or insanely smart.

Of course, the awe disappears when they see the looks they give him. A dirty relic boy, handcuffed and followed by security guards, in the halls of the famed North Star? Unheard of! Instead of giving in to the burning in his cheeks when he compares his filthy outfit with their pristine ones, he holds his head up high and marches through, following the direction the thugs are forcing him on.

He and the thugs, each on one of his sides, walk along the atrium, and he hears whispers all around him. Magnus doesn’t look to see where they’re coming from.

Then all at once, a whole group of students burst through the doors to his left, laughing and creating general havoc. What surprises him, though, is that all the students in the atrium start applauding and whooping. The blonde boy at the front gives an exaggerated bow, whilst the petite red headed girl elbows him.

Suddenly, burning with fury at the swagger that these people showcase, he storms ahead, forcing the thugs beside him to hurry and keep up.

They pass the group, who hush as he walks past. There are whispers again, and Magnus can see the girl with brown skin and dreads say something to the Asian girl beside her. He glares ferociously at them both, and he can feel the group’s stares on him as he stalks off.

They turn at a point which leads him to elevators, which the thugs program to reach the top floor. They open onto a corridor, which he’s lead along until they reach an office at the very end with a plaque on the door that reads “Robert Lightwood”.

Holy fuck. He’s in such deep shit.

Thug #2 knocks on the door, and a voice from within says “Come in!”

The door is pushed open, and sitting at the desk is Alec’s father.

***

“Who’s that?” Maia frowns at the boy crossing the atrium. He’s wearing relic goggles, a fairly nice jacket, and a whole lot of dust. He’s also escorted by two security guards, and handcuffed, which makes him a lot more interesting. There’s never been anyone like that guided through the Academy.

The boy glares at Maia, who raises her eyebrows in return, and Alec feels there’s something about him that’s bothering him in the back of his mind.

“Who knows?” Jace says, and they all gaze at him until he walks out of their sight, head high and proud.

***

“Magnus, do come in and sit down,” Robert Lightwood says with a small smile on his face, and Magnus feels wary at once.

“Unhandcuff him please, and close the door behind you,” he addresses the two thugs waiting at the door, and they do so. Magnus rubs his aching wrists, and glares at the thugs as they leave.

Robert gestures to the chair in front of his desk, and he hesitantly makes his way over to it. The office is amazing, like nothing he’s ever seen before. It’s on the corner of the building, and the glass windows are floor to ceiling, so when he peers over at them, he can see his city. It looks like a model sized version of the place he knows.

“Nice view, isn’t it?” Robert comments as Magnus takes a seat on a luxurious chair in front of the desk.

“Why am I here?” Magnus keeps his voice flat, he doesn’t want to show anything or give anything away that might give Robert leverage. He may not be as well educated as any student here, but he knows how to negotiate.

Robert does that small smile again, and stands up from his chair, and walks over to the windows. “You see, Magnus, I’ve been monitoring you for quite a while now. I know that every night, you go into our powered field and hack into the satellite system.”

The sick feeling in his stomach increases further.

“To do what, I don’t know. Maybe contacting a friend, but I know it’s not anything on the illegal scale, because we have defense mechanisms in place to stop that.”

Magnus recalls having hacked past some security defenses, but keeps that thought to himself.

“What is it you do, anyway?” Robert is looking at him curiously. Magnus fights to keep a straight face.

*Dating your son*, he thinks, but says instead: “Contacting a friend. She lives in New Australia.”

Robert makes a humming noise, looking… impressed?

“I think that your skills are greatly undervalued where you are at the minute,” He adjusts his cufflinks, still gazing out of the vast window. “I think you could be of some use to the company.”

Magnus blanches. Whatever he had been expecting, it had definitely not been that. “Sorry?”

“I want you to come study here, and work here,” Robert proposes, and a thousand thoughts are whirring in his head at once.

Working at the North Star. Living life in luxury. Getting his hands on tech he’d never dream of seeing in the flesh, and being able to experiment with it.

Working with Alec when he comes back. Being able to talk to Alec whenever he wished.

But…

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No thank you,” Magnus corrects. “I don’t want to live in a place where one person has more money than an entire town. I’ve seen the poverty out there. I’m one of the lucky ones, and you sit here in your shiny white building, sending men off into space, wasting thousands of dollars that could be used to give a child a drink of water. No. I refuse on moral principle.”

“Are you sure I can’t convince you with a quick tour?” He sees where this is going—show the him the fancy living quarters, the nice food, the facilities and Magnus will be sold. In *his* mind, anyway.

“No.” Magnus says stoutly.

“Alright then,” Robert looks faintly displeased. “I’ll escort you down to the car.”

***

“Hey, we should definitely get some sort of medal for doing this shit,” Jace grins lazily, sliding an arm around Clary.

Simon rolls his eyes. “What exactly did you do again? Close to nothing?”

Jace makes a noise of protest.

They’re headed to the cafeteria to mingle with some old students they’d been friends with before they’d left, and—in Jace’s case—show off to some new ones. It’s strange, before they had taken off, the words that his father had said that had stuck in his mind the most had been “Your crew are your family.” It had been one of the only things that had rung true in Alec’s life that he’d said.

“Anyway, none of it could’ve been possible without this guy,” Lily says, digging her elbow into his ribs.

Alec laughs and waves her off. “We all contributed equally. Even Jace.”

“*Even* Jace?”

There’s a chorus of chuckles at that, which quickly die down when Clary nudges them and nods to the entrance of the atrium. “Grouch at 12 o’clock.”

The same boy from earlier is walking out of the entrance, escorted by—Alec’s father. Okay, that’s a little weird. The relic boy’s arms are crossed defiantly, uncuffed, and he’s stubbornly ignoring Robert by the looks of things.

Simon says something about badass rule breakers, but Alec’s more focused on the boy. He’s pretty, something he hadn’t noticed earlier. His hair is less dusty and looks windswept, and his brown skin is smooth and dark. It’s then Alec notices that they’re walking towards the group, and the boy’s scowl deepens further when he recognises them from earlier.

“Ah, what a coincidence!” Robert says, his voice cheerful—which surprises Alec—and sounding like this hadn’t been a coincidence to him. “Here’s a group freshly back from a mission. I’m sure they can tell you all about it, and how great it is here.”

The boy looks away, his eyebrows furrowing further. He clearly does not want to be here.

There’s something odd about his eyes, Alec ponders, wishing he could get a closer look at them. A faint memory is making its way towards the front of his mind.

“Um…” Clary starts, looking like she doesn’t know what to say. “Yeah. We’ve just come back from an exploration trip.”

Something flashes in the boy’s eyes then, but it’s gone before he can catch it.

“Thank you, Ms. Fairchild,” Robert says, frowning slightly. “Over there is Mr. Lewis, Ms. Roberts, Ms. Chen, Mr. Herondale, and of course my son and daughter, Isabelle and Alexander.”

It’s when the boy drops his arms and stares at him incredulously that Alec realises what’s up with his eyes. They’re an odd golden green colour.

“Everyone, this is Magnus. I was hoping to recruit him here.”

“Alec?”

As soon as the word leaves the boy’s mouth Alec knows instantly that it’s him. It’s Magnus.

“Do you two…” Robert looks confused. “Know each other?”

Alec realises they’re gawping at each other rather obviously, but can’t care enough to change his expression. The shock hasn’t passed; he doesn’t know what to do. What to say.

“Oh my god,” Isabelle gasps. “Is this Radio Boy?”

Alec can feel himself flaming red under Magnus’s confused gaze, and hisses at her. “Izzy, _shut up_.”

Magnus’s expression is hurt. Bewildered. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”

“I…” Alec is at a loss for words. What can he possibly say to defend himself? That he decided he’d come back and not tell Magnus? That sure looks great, more like he’d come back and decided Magnus wasn’t worth it.

“I’m sorry,” Jace interrupts. “Am I missing something here?”

“No, Jace.” Magnus’s expression shutters off from all emotion, looking at Alec. “You’re not.”

With that, he turns on his heel and stalks out of the courtyard quickly, and through the exit.

*Wait!* Alec screams internally. *Don’t leave, it’s not what it looks like.*

But instead he stares helplessly after him, watching him leave. The one chance he had slipped out of his fingers like water, and all because of another dumb mistake Alec had made on a split second basis.

“Does anyone want to tell me what just happened?” Simon asks, breaking the thick silence.

“How did that dude know my name?” Jace wonders aloud.

Looking at his father’s perplexed expression, Izzy’s sympathetic one and everyone else staring at him, Alec snaps.

“That was my super secret boyfriend that I’ve been talking to over a radio wavelength for about two years,” He says coldly. “And if you don’t mind, I’ve got to go and fix something I’ve made.”

Alec breaks into a run in the direction Magnus left, hoping to all hopes to catch him. But when he reaches the doors, a black car with Magnus in the front seat is already roaring away.

***

Magnus can’t remember the journey back. He just remembers seeing the guilty expression on Alec’s face and running. Running to the car, running from the car in no direction he knew, letting his feet take him anywhere whilst the scenery blurred before his eyes. Because of tears, or shock, Magnus doesn’t know.

He stops suddenly. His feet have taken him to a place most familiar to him, and in the day time, the field looks far too endless and dry. His feet are traitors.

Magnus collapses at the satellites and draws his knees up to his chest, all at once trembling at the shock of the last two hours. Being dragged to North Star, being offered a place, turning down that place, stumbling across Alec, realising Alec has lied to him, running away from Alec. He angrily wipes a few tears from his eyes, resting his head on his knees.

Magnus doesn’t know how long he stays like that. The sun makes its way down the sky, bringing with it the dark. Dusk falls, and the sky is a million different colours.

His thoughts drag along at a slow pace. Their one plan for the future has been ruined by Alec, and Magnus doesn’t know where to go from here. Lead a life of collecting and selling scraps, or hitch a ride and go west. Seek the unknown. Apparently life up near the mountains that used to be called The Rockies is good.

Magnus is awakened from his gloomy thoughts by the snapping of a twig behind him. He whirls around, only to see Alec standing six feet away from him and wearing a sheepish expression.

He hadn’t really taken in Alec’s face when they’d met, too overcome with shock and eventual hurt. Magnus can see now, though, and is startled with how captivating he is. A shock of messy black hair that matches the inky colour of the sky in the dead of night, angular features, long eyelashes and a lean figure. His eyes are the same blue as the bright cerulean of his North Star jumper. And the sweater isn’t actually ugly.

Magnus is torn between wanting to stare at him for just a little longer, and kicking him. He does neither, instead angrily turning back to face the field, not looking at the other man. “Go away.”

Alec doesn’t. “I thought you would be here.”

“Hm,” Magnus is one hundred percent not in the mood.

Alec can’t take a hint, clearly, because he comes and sits beside Magnus. Magnus refuses to turn his head and look at him. “I’m sorry.”

“And so you should be,” Magnus retorts.

He can see Alec tip his head up to the sky in his peripheral vision, and leaning on his hands behind him. A faint breeze ruffles Magnus’s hair, and he welcomes it.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Alec says tentatively. He gestures to the space Magnus had created for himself in the midst of all the wires. “This is where you were for every night?”

“Yes, where I waited two years for a boy who strung me along and lied to me.”

He had meant that to come out less angry.

“What?” Alec sounds genuinely surprised. Magnus faces him, and his expression is incredulous. “Magnus, I didn’t ‘string you along’.”

“Oh, sorry, silly me. What were you planning on doing then? Pretending to be up in space every night and still contact me? Or just cut me off? Neither are looking ideal now, are they?” Magnus shot back viciously.

Alec looks down, lost. “I don’t know *what* I was planning on doing.” Then his expression changes to one of defiance. “But I do know that I wasn’t going to leave you. I didn’t lie because I don’t care about you. The opposite is true.”

“What?” Now Magnus is the lost one.

“I didn’t tell you because I was afraid. Unnecessarily so, I see now,” he adds, looking straight into Magnus’s eyes. “I don’t know if this makes sense, but up there…”

He looks up again, at the sky that’s darkening to black, and where stars are starting to twinkle to life. “I felt like it was just you and me. Like it was—contained, if that makes sense. Once we got word that we were headed back, I didn’t know what to do. I thought that you maybe wouldn’t like me once we meet.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Magnus sputters, and then shifts to face him. “I walk out here, risking my ass every night for two and a half years for you, of course I like you!”

A faint pink rises on Alec’s cheeks as he smiles shyly. He looks down again, his expression forlorn. “Once I didn’t tell you, the harder it became to do so. I was going to meet you out here tonight, but then you turned up at North Star and I didn’t know what to say.”

“Huh,” Magnus leans back on his hands. “That makes a lot more sense.”

“Are you still angry?”

Magnus looks Alec over, slightly nervous but still sweet, his hair flopping into his eyes, and honestly tells him: “Not in the slightest.”

Alec smiles even brighter at that, and Magnus grins back at him. Then something catches his eye in the sky above, and he stands up. “Look,” he says, pointing. A shooting star. Alec stands up with him, looking at it with a scientific sort of approach.

“Make a wish,” Magnus says absently, looking at it flicker and speed away.

“What did you wish for?” Alec asks him conversationally.

“Well if I told you that, it wouldn’t come true, would it?” Magnus faces him and quirks his lips into a smile.

“I’ll tell you what I wished for then,” Alec says, tilting his head to the side. “Here’s a hint: it has to do with you, me, and the act of kissing.”

Magnus’s face heats up. “‘The act of kissing’ sure does sound romantic.”

“That sarcasm certainly doesn’t.”

They’re quite close to each other now. Magnus can see the individual eyelashes on his eyes and the different shades of blue within. He can also see a layer of sweat on Alec’s skin, which is strange.

“Alec,” Magnus says. “Why are you sweating so much?”

“I ran.” He answers simply.

“You what?”

“I ran here.”

“You ran,” Magnus’s tone is disbelieving. “All the way from North Star headquarters to this clearing?”

“Yep.”

He’s staggered. “*Why?*”

“I wanted to see you,” Alec sounds puzzled, as if it’s the most simple thing in the world to run about ten miles to see someone.

Magnus stares at him for a moment. Alec looks back, searching his face quizzically. “What?”

“I really want to kiss you right now,” Magnus murmurs, and Alec’s eyes darken.

“Why don’t you, then?”

And so he does.

Alec’s lips taste like space dust and moonlight, and his hands are gentler than anything Magnus has been given when he places them on each side of his head, cupping his face and threading through his hair.

Magnus dazedly thinks that he could get used to this.

***

They walk to Magnus’s place, because it’s only a short walk away. He becomes a bit anxious as Magnus unlocks the door (“A true gentleman,” Alec says, patting him on the arm. His brain short circuits slightly) for it isn’t the most glamorous place, to say the least, and after seeing where Alec’s lived all his life, it can’t even compare.

“This is your home?” Alec’s looking around at the place; Magnus wishes he cleaned before his arrival. The walls are still kind of dusty, his bed isn’t made and a bunch of clothes are piled in the corner.

“It’s not much,” He says with a casualness he doesn’t quite feel, picking up a few dishes and stacking them onto the side.  

Alec stares at him. “Are you kidding? I love it!”

Magnus beams at him, and then sits down on the bed opposite him. Alec joins him, and they’re content in the quiet for a moment.

“What should we do?” Alec breaks the silence. Magnus looks pensively at him, then his face breaks into a smirk.

“Break back into the Academy,” he says, laying down and pulling Alec by the collar so he’s on top of him. “But I have a few ideas that we could try out before that.”

“Is it really breaking in if I have the keypad number and—” Alec’s cut off by Magnus’s lips.

***

They sneak back into his room at the Academy, and lay in soft clothing on his bed, limbs entangled together.

“We should run away,” Alec whispers, breaking the content silence between them.

Magnus’s eyebrows crinkle amusedly. “Where to?”

He doesn’t ask why, just goes along with Alec’s thought process, which makes something flutter inside of him.

“Space,” He says, looking at the window above them, which has a clear view of the constellations. “Maybe find something worth bringing back. God knows everyone that’s not rich is going to have to fight for a place on that planet.”

Magnus’s eye light up in interest. “What about your family? And my friends?”

“We wouldn’t be gone forever,” Alec says thoughtfully. “Just for a few years. And I can leave things for them to contact us with, and mail them to New Australia.”

“This sounds like an excellent idea,” Magnus says, shifting so he’s propped over Alec. “Where do you keep your rockets?”

Alec laughs into their kiss.

***

It’s three o’clock when they sneak into the basement, packed with enough clothing and food to last them for at least a year. Alec has left Isabelle and Jace a note, saying to explain to the others and his father.

They descend with excitement thrumming through their bones, and Magnus’s eyes widen when he looks out onto the infinite room and spaceships layed out.

Alec picks the rocket built for two people, and checks to make sure it’s full of fuel and completely functioning. They board, and he gets ready to open the doors and take off, in the pilots seat.

He glances over at Magnus, who’s strapped in beside him.

“What?” Magnus asks him, lifting an eyebrow.

“Nothing,” Alec replies. “Just that you look really cute in my sweater.”

Magnus snorts.

***

By the time guards rush down to the basement at the sound of an engine starting, they’re already halfway up the atmosphere. The rocket is roaring around them and shaking, but they’re focused on getting up and out. And focused on each other.

Looking into Magnus’s eyes, and holding his hand, Alec feels unstoppable.

Magnus’s eyes tell him the same.

***

fin.

**Author's Note:**

> scream @ me about this on tumblr!!


End file.
